ICE Wins EU Formal Antitrust Approval to Buy NYSE Euronext

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- IntercontinentalExchange Inc. won
European Union approval to take over NYSE Euronext without
conditions after EU regulators said the deal wouldn’t harm
competition for derivatives trading and clearing services.

The European Commission in Brussels said it approved the
tie up after a review that focused largely on competition for
exchange-traded agricultural and soft commodities derivatives as
well as U.S. equity index instruments.

“The commission’s investigation confirmed that the
proposed transaction would not raise competition concerns as NYX
and ICE are not direct competitors in the markets concerned and
would continue to face competition from a number of other
competitors,” the EU regulator said in a state.

ICE, the energy and commodity futures bourse, agreed on
Dec. 21 to acquire NYSE Euronext for cash and stock totaling
$8.2 billion at the time. Shareholders of both companies
approved the transaction on June 3. The deal means ICE is a step
closer to gaining control of Liffe, Europe’s second-largest
derivatives market. EU regulators blocked Deutsche Boerse AG’s
purchase of NYSE last year, citing concern over competition in
derivatives and clearing.

Merging NYSE Euronext, which owns the biggest exchanges by
value of listings in the U.S., France and the Netherlands, with
the second-largest futures market underscores both the growing
importance of derivatives and the diminishing influence of the
NYSE, founded more than two centuries ago. ICE plans to spin off
Euronext, the Continental European equity markets of NYSE.

‘No Surprise’

“It’s no surprise,” Thomas Kloet, chief executive officer
of TMX Group Inc., owner of Canada’s stock and derivatives
exchanges and clearinghouse, said in an interview in London
today. “We didn’t see significant areas of competition concern
given the diversification.” TMX’s plan to merge with London
Stock Exchange Group Plc collapsed in 2011.

“With this deal ICE will enter some principal businesses
like U.S. equities. The most interesting question now is what
happens with Euronext,” said Kloet.

Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of IntercontinentalExchange, will
head the combined company.

Sprecher said in an e-mailed statement he welcomed today’s
decision and that the company “will continue to work with the
relevant national regulators during the process of reviewing and
completing the transaction.”

The approval is “a significant step forward in completing
our compelling combination,” Duncan Niederauer, CEO of NYSE
Euronext, said in a separate statement.

Volatile Markets

Populist outcry, antitrust concern and some of the most
volatile markets on record have prevented the completion of more
than $32 billion in announced transactions, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg on deals since October 2010 that were
valued at $1 billion or more.

Discussions that led to the takeover agreement began in
October 2012.

ICE-NYSE overcame concerns from European regulators who
last month asked users if ICE’s plan to buy NYSE Euronext would
reduce competition in soft-commodities markets amid concern
among traders over fees and trading hours. The commission had
sought feedback on the impact for derivatives on cocoa, coffee,
sugar and rapeseed and U.S. equity-index futures, according to a
survey with more than 90 questions obtained by Bloomberg News.

ICE, which bought the New York Board of Trade in 2007 and
renamed it ICE Futures U.S., has said it will keep the NYSE
Euronext brand. The merged company will maintain dual
headquarters in Atlanta and New York.